With summer around the corner, we begin to welcome Ethiopian coffees onto our menu. Considered to be the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia is drenched in the same history and complexity that is found in many of their coffees. This season, we will progressively release several Ethiopian coffees including Yukro, Reko, and Nano Challa.
Nano Challa Cooperative is located in Western Ethiopia in the Agaro Gera Woreda region, just a few kilometers up the road from Yukro in the Jimma Zone. Until the last decade, this area (including Nano Challa) mainly produced low-grade, dry-processed coffees. Jimma was known for amazing honey that tasted like jasmine, white tea, and citrus (sound familiar?). However, their coffee was being traded as a commodity. In 2010, Nano Challa was among the first cooperatives in the area to install a washing station and begin preparing washed coffee. With a little support and training, they began producing some of the finest washed coffees in the world.
The resulting Nano Challa is a soft, gentle, floral cup of coffee
Today, Nano Challa has built a reputation for exquisite quality. Upon visiting the cooperative we were stunned by the amount of detail they placed into producing clean coffee. The cooperative is made up of about 400 members who each harvest heirloom varieties that have been growing for generations in the forest surrounding the washing station. At the washing station, the coffee is pulped and washed using a Penagos, a machine that is commonly seen across Latin America, known for using minimal water to pulp and wash coffee. Following the wash, the coffee is then soaked overnight. It then goes through the drying process where the coffee is carefully moved throughout the day and dried very slowly. The members at Nano sort through the parchment thoroughly during the process, picking out the unwanted seeds, winnowing the chaff, and reserving only the parchment that is perfectly clean. The resulting Nano Challa is a soft, gentle, floral cup of coffee with flavor notes reminiscent of the area’s prized honey: jasmine, white tea, and citrus.
I’ll never forget the day I visited Nano Challa. Not only was I welcomed by a team of producers whose detailed work still inspires my day-to-day work, but I also tasted the most delicious honey. A couple of days after my visit, I tried Nano Challa. It tasted just like their honey with undertones of jasmine, white tea, and citrus. Nano Challa has been a reminder of how special it is to actually taste pure terroir in coffee and, in this case, honey as well. It is invigorating to taste these clean, genuine flavors and it reinforces our love and appreciation for all the hard work it takes to make it happen. Grab a bag of Nano Challa here today!
